Review: 43252 Moana's Flowerpot
Posted by SetToBuild,
Following the success of the Bird of Paradise in the Botanical Collection, what better way to introduce more tropical blooms than with Moana’s Hibiscus-like flower?
The diverse types of flora included in this basket make for a striking display piece, but hidden within the set there are also a couple of detail-packed small scenes with excellent storytelling.
Summary
43252 Moana's Flowerpot, 619 pieces.
£39.99 / $39.99 / €44.99 | 6.5p/6.5c/7.3c per piece.
Buy at LEGO.com »
A beautiful way to incorporate Hibiscus into your botanical collection.
- Good as a standalone botanical
- Fun illustrations on the stickers
- Great storytelling elements
- Best Moana mini-doll so far
- No Heihei
The set was provided for review by LEGO. All opinions expressed are those of the author.
Mini-doll
With some modifications to her wardrobe, LEGO managed to make another variation of the Moana mini-doll for this set. A longer skirt like the one found in 43205 Ultimate Adventure Castle is present with changes to the pattern. The designs on her blouse and necklace have also changed again. The placement of her facial features varies greatly from figure to figure as well, particularly when deciding which eyebrow is raised.
Moana’s mini-doll has undergone one huge change thanks to the introduction of Sienna Brown, a new colour currently only used as a skin tone for figures. Previously, Medium Nougat was used for Moana.
For this version of Moana, her hair is dark brown. Over previous iterations, her hair has been either black or dark brown, and the hair mould has not changed. It still has two connection points for an accessory to be attached. It seems like an oversight to not have included a small flower for her hair, as this set’s main feature is her signature flowers.
The Heart of Te Fiti is printed on a much more suitable colour of element for the first time. The sparkly trans-green opal colour resembles a glistening stone better than the other colours they’ve used in the past.
The Completed Model
The bright colours of the plants in the set stand out well above the earth-toned basket in a pleasing composition, with a varied spray of leaves and other greenery fleshing out the base of the arrangement. Although not their first appearance, four three-leaf pieces offer a small splash of LEGO’s newest colour, reddish-orange.
At a glance, the way that the largest pink flowers are assembled is intriguing. The key piece that holds it all together is the ring element from the Sonic sets. A similar Hibiscus design was used in 43249 Stitch. If you had a few rings lying around, you could make some more colours of Hibiscus to spruce up the display.
A careful arrangement of curved 1x1s creates a beautiful woven basket texture. My fingers became slightly fatigued after attaching 112 of them, but it was worth it in the end. A couple of the stickers on this part of the build did nothing but distract me since the printing was slightly off-centre. The basket design is strong enough to stand without these stickers on the outside.
As mentioned in the review for 43237 Isabela’s Flowerpot, the mechanism for the hinges is abrupt, but compared to the aforementioned model, 43252 does a much better job of blending this in. The choices for part colours in this area help our eyes glance over the interruption with ease.
Even though the large panels that make up the basket have a seemingly strong connection point, I found them to be somewhat unstable when attaching them. I found that it helps to secure the connection if you press on the stickered 2x4 tiles from the inside while also pressing the panels down from the outside.
The set includes many stickers for details within the interior, but the fun illustrations on them do a fantastic job of telling the story of the film. In the left room, we see the tapestries that Moana’s grandmother, Tala, uses to tell the story of Maui, the island of Te Fiti, and Tamatoa the giant crab.
The right room depicts Moana’s journey on the ocean, following the stars to find Maui. The floor of each room is different for each scene and thankfully the blue side isn’t too noticeable from the outside due to the overhang of the basket’s panels.
The chest includes a pineapple and a coconut, two sources of food from Moana’s island that are included as provisions for her journey. The chest uses the newer flat chest lid usually seen in Minecraft sets rather than the classic lid.
Pua is mainly seen earlier in the film, yet he is featured more often in LEGO sets than Heihei, who has only been seen in two sets as a single mould. I would have much preferred to see Heihei in this set! Side note: I can’t stop seeing the Dreamcast logo on the flag.
Another oar is among the extra pieces in the set, as well as another Heart of Te Fiti and some colourful, useful small botanical pieces—a good haul.
Conclusion
Who knows if we’ll get a proper Botanical Collection Hibiscus, but this is a great substitute for now. The height is shorter than what we would expect from a typical Botanical set, but with the extra storytelling added within, it’s an especially great set for any Moana fan. There were a couple of challenges in the build process between the many 1x1 slopes and the wobbly panels, but the result was worth it.
With the other ‘Botanical-adjacent’ sets out there like Dancing Groot or the Mandrake, maybe we’ll see more themed botanical sets in the future. I’d like to see an encased Enchanted Rose from Beauty and the Beast or a pot of Deadly Night Shade from The Nightmare Before Christmas!
81 likes
21 comments on this article
I feel like the medium nougat color worked better for Moana, but good set!
@Jackthenipper said:
" I wonder what sort of fertiliser she uses to get such results!"
Better not make that public.
This looks like a terrific little set. Definitely a 'buy' for me!
Love the flower design, not so much a fan of the 'basket weave' design of the pot, nor the colour choice for the base soil...
Botanical AND pig in one set? I think I’ve just found my wife’s Christmas present!
Really appreciate you showing the backside design of how the flower is put together. We love trying to create our own flowers at home with extra pieces. Seeing different techniques like this is always helpful. Nice review, thanks!
I'm not sure if I like that basket weave effect. The bands look a bit thin at two studs wide... yet that amount of 1x1 sized parts make me tired from applying them when just looking at them! Let's hope whoever gets this set doesn't rebuild it too frequently...
The actual plant itself looks great, as always. The basket would look drab if it wasn't for the band of red, which is welcome and works well for the theming.
So a good one, I think. Just not for me.
COMPOST CORNER
Cute set, but does anyone else think the pig's legs look really odd? Ghost pig!
@brickwich said:
"Cute set, but does anyone else think the pig's legs look really odd? Ghost pig!"
I’ve always had the same thought. No matter how I look at it I can’t see what they were going for.
I was never interested in Vaiana in her LEGO form, but as it happens, I've just recently decided to rewatch the first movie before the premiere of the sequel. I might even end up buying either 43210 or this 43252 (or both?).
The obvious next choice is the magic flower from Tangled
@brickwich said:
"Cute set, but does anyone else think the pig's legs look really odd? Ghost pig!"
I see it now! Spookyyyy!
@chief7575 said:
"Really appreciate you showing the backside design of how the flower is put together. We love trying to create our own flowers at home with extra pieces. Seeing different techniques like this is always helpful. Nice review, thanks!"
Glad to help! Thanks for reading! :)
I…came here to comment on a part, and then realized this is not the set I thought it was. I don’t remember hearing about this before, but now I’m wondering if they plan to do similar sets for all the Princesses, and more importantly, _can_ they do this for every Princess? Some of the movies have very clear signature flowers, but some of those films I wouldn’t immediately associate with any flower.
@SetToBuild said:
" @brickwich said:
"Cute set, but does anyone else think the pig's legs look really odd? Ghost pig!"
I see it now! Spookyyyy! "
HE LITERALLY SPENCER FROM HIDDEN SIDE FR
Ooh! 1 person remembers Tiswas.... Shocked!
@PurpleDave said:
"Some of the movies have very clear signature flowers, but some of those films I wouldn’t immediately associate with any flower."
I'm hoping that with the new Zelda set, they'll someday make a Silent Princess or a Sundelion! :O
We got a Piranha Plant from Mario after all!
@Rabrickzel:
It can always be said with dripping sarcasm, in which case it's definitely a negative. Ironically, the Latin word it derives from is terrificus, which means frightening. Not exactly a positive origin, there.
@PurpleDave said:
" @Rabrickzel:
It can always be said with dripping sarcasm, in which case it's definitely a negative. Ironically, the Latin word it derives from is terrificus, which means frightening. Not exactly a positive origin, there."
I'm reminded of Ollivander in Harry Potter. "After all, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named did great things. Terrible, yes, but great."
I don't like the way that moon is smiling...